KU's Perkins says fans 'love' new seating system

¢ Athletic Director Lew Perkins tells the [Boston Globe][1] that KU "fans love" the revamped points system for basketball season tickets at Allen Fieldhouse, which allows fans to choose their seats. Boston College is considering a similar system._ "Everybody is doing it," said University of Kansas (and former University of Connecticut) athletic director Lew Perkins. "It's just the way it is."Perkins has a system in place for all of Kansas's revenue-producing sports where fans accumulate points based on their contributions. "The more points you have, the better your seat," said Perkins. "And we adjust every year."Perkins says he has instituted a plan at Kansas in which fans get to choose the seat they want each year."Let's say if you had a certain seat and had so many points accumulated and someone came in and gave us an additional $10,000 and wanted your seat, they would get it if they had more points," Perkins said. "The pick-a-seat program has been great for us. The fans love it."¢ Global warming could have serious implications for the world's insect populations, according to an article in [Winston-Salem Journal][2]. Orley "Chip" Taylor, a KU evolutionary biologist, says while some species may increase in numbers, others could disappear."As the planet heats up, the species in higher elevations are likely to be pushed off the mountaintop, so to speak," he said. "There will be less and less habitat for species in colder environments. If we get a lot of global warming, it's going to have a significant impact."¢ Bobby Johnson, who played football at KU in the early 1980s, talks about his NFL career and cocaine addiction in a story in the [New York Daily News][3]. He was sleeping in his car or sleeping in a mission if he could beat the other homeless people to a bed at night or in the summertime going down to Riverfront Park on Second Avenue in downtown Nashville, a popular spot for outdoor concerts in the Music City, and staking out his turf on a bench and then not closing his eyes for one minute until the sun came up.¢ The Body Farm, a research facility in Tennessee that allows scientists to study real decomposing human bodies, is looking to expand, the [Knoxville News-Sentinel][4] reports. The idea for the body farm came from Bill Bass, a former KU professor. Part of the inspiration came in the early 1960s when Bass was a University of Kansas professor.Legendary lawman Harold Nye of the Kansas Bureau of Investigation posed an "unusual" question one spring day in 1964._"Could I examine a skeleton and estimate the time since death?" Bass wrote in "Death's Acre," co-authored with Jon Jefferson. "This particular skeleton, it turned out, belonged to a cow; occasionally cattle rustlers or vandals leave dead, mutilated cattle on the prairie."¢ Lawrence-based band the Appleseed Cast "stands as seasoned survivors, its tenacity and craft embraced by an ever-growing legion of dedicated fans," according to a review in the [Chicago Daily Herald][5]._ Almost in spite of their brooding ways, The Appleseed Cast rocked with anthemic resolve. A pair of new instrumentals waxed soft and loud, stressing their recent interest in atmospheric post-rock. Meanwhile, a healthy catalog capped by the arena-sized "Fight Song" injected the set with raucous indie pop interludes. Their sound has certainly shifted, but with their increased texture and complexity, The Appleseed Cast gets better with age._ [1]: http://www.boston.com/sports/colleges/football/articles/2007/01/27/seasons_of_giving_at_bc/?p1=MEWell_Pos5 [2]: http://www.journalnow.com/servlet/Satellite?pagename=WSJ/MGArticle/WSJ_BasicArticle&c=MGArticle&cid=1149192901014 [3]: http://www.nydailynews.com/sports/story/492483p-414846c.html [4]: http://www.knoxnews.com/kns/local_news/article/0,1406,KNS_347_5310824,00.html [5]: http://www.dailyherald.com/story.asp?id=274204

"Anybody notice how now that huge blocks of seats are sold to corporations, people are getting up and leaving with 3 minutes left in the game? That never used to happen"

Ummm...the fans have been doing that for years to "beat the traffic." I can recall many times 10-15 years ago when Frederick was the AD and people would start to leave after the last time out. It's not a new phenomenon. I personally have never left a game early whether it is KU basketball, football, or volleyball.

On the other hand, I agree about Lew Perkins...he lives in his own world.

We used to know all of the people(faculty/staff) around us and we formed lasting friendships with people we were next to,
Now every year we change and the atmosphere has changed!
It sucks moving every year!!!!!!!!

How appropriate that AD Perkins trumpets this news with the Boston Globe. Can't recall ever seeing or hearing these claims made locally. But I confess: I do love the arrangement that AD Perkins has made possible for me. I love sitting in the comfort of my Johnson County home, with the TV volume off and the radio on and Bob and Chris providing the game coverage. I do miss my old seats and the wonderful folks I sat with for more than 24 years, but I don't miss AD Perkins holding that privilege over my head every season.

It's the same everytime the paper reports on Lew - the disgruntled come out of the woodwork to voice their displeasure. Personally, I do love the new seating arrangement. I think it's a brilliant step in the right direction. I've been a life-long KU fan having been born and raised in Lawrence. Under the previous system I had to wait for someone to die before I could get tickets for KU basketball - and even then, it would help to know someone. Now, if I donate enough money, I can get into the Fieldhouse on a regular basis. Not only does this present me with an opporutunity that I may not have had in the past, it also helps to fund ALL KU athletics.

College athletics is big business. Your disdain for the realities of the current college landscape does not change anything. You should feel priveleged that you had the opportunity to sit so close for so long without paying an appropriate premium.

If they don't get past the first round this year, I think you will be able to get any tickets you want, without any rediculous donations to Lewis Perkins and his greedy relatives (He's got a guy, always, and 9/10 times it's a family member).

Even the faculty will be dropping thier season tickets back in the bucket. There will be some empty bandwagons if we lose again.

Was it not a privelege? Is it not a clear source of revenue that the university neglected for far too long?

Season ticket holders were given ample opportunity to pay up to retain the seats that other were willing to pay 10s of thousands of dollars for. If they didn't, they got shuffled. Cold? Perhaps. Necessary? Most definitely. Many of the ticket holders hadn't paid the university anything in several years and it finally caught up to them. Is it too bad that some got booted after following the Hawks for so long? Sure but it is a reflection of the current reality of big time college athletics. Either embrace it or get out of the way because you won't change it.

If it were truly going to fund ALL KU sports, then it maybe wouldn't be such a bad deal. However, the money is really being used to fund Lew's oversize salary, along with his son-in-law and any other "guy" that he chooses to put in a position of power within the KU athletic department. The extra revenue isn't going to the teams.....it's going to the administration.

Here is a thought for you all who support Lew Perkins' backhanded approach to season ticket holders; Perkins jacks up the season ticket packages' prices up by 400%, like Carl Peterson, & now wants to make deals with the Chiefs on KU-MU games that should be played HERE NOT THERE, while he refuses to refund the KU-MU tickets held by season ticket holders. Screw you, LEW!

The wealthy always have distain for the poor. The poor reminds them too much of what they could be. But, as I have said before, Lew is not the problem. Colleges and universities lost control of "school sports" years ago. The best thing that could happen is schools completely spin them off, charge for the space they occupy, and demand they pay the athletes for their labor and pay school license fees for any products or advertising related to the school.No more amateur sports, or student athletes that act like professional sports and sport figures. Then, perhaps, schools could focus again on education. I do care about no tax dollars supporting college and university sports. Let the fans pays.

Why would he refund those tickets again? I'm pretty sure I haven't been given the opportunity to even buy my football tickets for next year so there wouldn't be a refund due to me.

I'm all for the experiment in KC. I'll be flying back to Lawrence for Thanksgiving anyway and I'd love to make a trip over to Arrowhead for the game. While the OU game was a bit of a flop, mostly because KU could have won if we would have been able to put up any points, I think the MU game at Arrowhead could potentially work out quite well. I'm at least willing to give it a chance.

I love it. It gives me an opportunity to get better seats. I am a season ticket holder for Football, Mens Basketball, Volleyball, Soccer and Softball. The people who are complaining want something for nothing.

HELLO, ebbenji! Anyone home? The season TICKET package holders get screwed because of Lew! You're right on the money, blue73, ebbenji is in a different dimension. He & Lew bribed somebody, yet their brains are full of cigar smoke, they can't see the writing on the wall of this ridiculous scheme of screwing Lawrence out of the KU-MU football classic. Perhaps they drink too much of the bubbly stuff & don't know the difference. Oh, yeah, right, $1 million goes far, but not far enough! When the game is played here, the stadium fills up! Arrowhead DOES NOT!

Topekahawk, how do you as a season ticket holder benefit? Are you going to get a refund for the KU-MU game originally to have been played here, but instead goes to Arrowhead? Please, explain to me how season ticket holders benefit with this idea of Lew's.

I agree with Lew. Waiting for a ticket holder to die in order to get good seats is strictly for the birds. Plus, if you spent a lot of money for the ticket, there's less chance of being seated next to a guy that has "KU" shaved in his back hair.

rhd99 - When KU played OU at Arrowhead a couple years ago, I purchased the ticket with my season ticket package. The "package" that you refer to is the paying of face value for football tickets that guarantee you the same seats for every game. Well, with the new KU/MU game set-up you'll either be able to buy the ticket at the same time you are renewing your season tickets or there will be a separate sale. Either way, you'll pay the same price for the ticket, whether it had been in Lawrence or in KC and your seat will be assigned based on points.

Season ticket prices are not set in stone, if we had 7 home games (which would result from the KU/MU game being played in Lawrence) you would have paid for one more game in your season ticket package. It's not like you are getting screwed out of a game.

Let's see, KU is a public institution dedicated to the education of the people of the State of Kansas. Hmmm. And, the basketball program bills itself as part of that educational process. Hmmmm. The basketball program never forgets to tell you that they are from KU. Hmmmm. Yet the basketball program (and other KU sports programs) feel they can sell decent seats only to those who "contribute" to their program. Hmmmm. But, wait. Others say "get real" about the reality of university level sports - it requires a lot of money to run. Hmmmm. And, other say "don't worry about the exorbitant salaries of coaches" as it is not paid for by the university. Hmmmm. It might seem that if the sports program needs more money than the university can handle and extortion of contributions in exchange for seats is reality , that perhaps, just perhaps, the sports program really is not a part of the educational process of the average student at KU. Hmmm. If a high price must be paid for a seat, and sports is a part of the "educational process" just what has the average KU student been doing all these years by paying tuition. Hmmmm. Perhaps it is only a sideshow at an educational carnival. Perhaps the sports program needs to pay royalties to the University for use of its copyrighted logo. Perhaps the sport programs need to just move to KC under a separate corporate charter and be done with it. But, don't come to my home and tell me that my children, grandchildren, nieces and nephews must go to KU even in part because of the notoriety of their sports program. And, don't tell any student or graduate or parent of a student or graduate that they have been freeloading by not paying a huge price for tickets to the games for the past many years. Those people, my friends, are the people that made the program a part of the educational process and made the program famous! Turn you back on them if you want. But, you are being intellectually dishonest and elitist of the foulest nature.

Lew doesn't have the guts to give the same interview to the Lawrence Journal World, Topeka Capital Journal or the Kansas City Star. Just the Boston Globe, which I suspect very few people in this part of the world read.

I don't really care who sits where, but I can't stand that dumb blonde who sits right behind the announcers. You know the one. She always tries to stick her ugly mug right in front of the camera. It's especially sad that she tries to make her daughter act like a fool, too. I don't care that she has those seats, but she should respect the announcers and stop acting like an idiot.

I am writing a letter to the editor of the Boston Globe, and I'm going to note how many people just here in this forum (myself included) firmly believe that a university administrator blatantly lied to the media. The more people who do this, the better. Lew chose the Boston Globe because it is far from here, but has a lot of readers. Well, let's make that backfire on him and see how well he can do damage control.

Now, for a lesson in the English language.

donationnoun
1. an act or instance of presenting something as a gift, grant, or contribution.
2. a gift, as to a fund; contribution.

giftnoun
1. something given voluntarily without payment in return, as to show favor toward someone, honor an occasion, or make a gesture of assistance; present.
2. the act of giving.
3. something bestowed or acquired without any particular effort by the recipient or without its being earned

bribenoun
1. money or any other valuable consideration given or promised with a view to corrupting the behavior of a person, esp. in that person's performance as an athlete, public official, etc.: The motorist offered the arresting officer a bribe to let him go.
2. anything given or serving to persuade or induce

Except the athletic department, with the implicit blessing of the university, does give "payment in return." You can take someone's season tickets away from them. Now, tell me how that doesn't have a monetary value. Sounds an awful lot more like a bribe than a donation.